Annalise
by planet p
Summary: What about Ben? A story about Ben, sort of. Ben/OC


**Annalise** by planet p

**Disclaimer** I don't own the Pretender or any of its characters.

**Author's Notes** Written in 2008. About Ben Miller, kind of. OC-centric! If that's not your thing – stop now and click the _back_ button, this story's not for you.

I just had to write this, though it's a bit freaky, and the explanation – if you want one – is even freakier! What can you do about it?

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_2021_

Annalise watched the teenage boy seated opposite her across the laminate-topped table, though her grandson did not look up from his cell phone on which he was playing a game he had said was called Tetris.

Brendan was 18 and was in his final year of high school. He was an attractive boy with dyed light brown hair and beautiful blue eyes. As she was watching him, Brendan made a face. "Come on!" he complained loudly to his cell phone, and Annalise supposed it had something to do with the game, a loss or low score perhaps.

Suppressing a sigh, she turned her attention to the counter where she had earlier ordered lunch, and wondered how much longer it would be before their order arrived, though there was nothing to be seen by staring that way as she could not see beyond the counter and the large menu boards. Instead, she glanced around at the other customers to take her mind off the iced tea she had ordered. She wouldn't have felt so awkward if she had had a bottle of iced tea in her hands. She could have pretended that she didn't mind that Brendan was playing some silly game on his cell phone because he didn't really want to talk to her.

A group of teenage girls were gossiping and cackling a few tables away, though looking at them only reminded Annalise of Brendan. She supposed he would rather have preferred to be spending his time with friends than with his 67-year-old grandmother.

She looked away from the teenage girls and noticed an older man sitting on his own, though his companion must have been around somewhere, she supposed, noting the two plates instead of one, two pieces of cake. He looked to be in his early eighties, Annalise thought, and wondered if his companion would be too.

Annalise and Brendan's order arrived, and Annalise watched Brendan eating for a while.

"What?" Brendan asked suddenly, staring at her.

Annalise dropped her eyes to her own lunch for a moment, and when she looked again, Brendan had gone back to his food.

_Strange_, she thought as she glanced across the chain restaurant and noticed that the old man was still alone. The gaggle of teenage girls had gone, she also noticed, though they had left the empty packets that had contained their lunch, paper cups, serviettes, and various other things on their table.

Across from her, Brendan was busy with his drink, and didn't look up when Annalise stood up and walked away from their table.

_He wouldn't notice if I walked out that door and walked under a moving vehicle_, Annalise thought, but immediately pushed the thought away guiltily. He was a teenager, she reminded herself, like all the other teenagers, like those girls who had left that mess on that table, but soon he wouldn't be a teenager anymore. She loved Brendan, and she would never wish to take anything away from him, so what place did she have for such thoughts? She had been the same at his age.

Pulling herself from her thoughts, she stepped around a table she would have walked straight into had she not been walking so slowly, and strode in the direction of the old man's table, though not directly there, as though she had meant to all along, but as though she was simply walking that way. She stopped when she reached the table. "Excuse me," she said loudly.

The old man glanced at her.

"Hi."

The man frowned.

Annalise suddenly realised that she didn't know what to say to him. _Stupid_, she chided herself. What had she been thinking? She blushed. _God, he must think I'm crazy_, she thought, the way he was looking at her. "I noticed that you were sitting on your own and wondered if you were okay," she blurted.

The man laughed.

_He thinks I'm calling him mad_, Annalise realised suddenly. "God, no, that's not how I meant it!" she rushed. "I meant, I noticed that your friend had left and hadn't come back, and I wondered how you were."

"My friend?" the man asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

Annalise glanced at the table shortly. "Yes, your friend," she said.

"For a start, I don't see how that is any of your business," the man told her angrily.

Annalise stared.

"And just so you know," the man continued. "Yes, I am mad, and you should probably leave right now before I do anything crazy."

Annalise glared, but took a step back from the table. How dare he threaten her? Without thinking, she raised a hand and slapped him.

"Grandma!" Brendan hollered, his eyes going big as he hurried over.

Annalise continued to glare at the man, because now her grandson thought that she was mad too.

Brendan stopped at the table, and then he just frowned.

Annalise stood there, breathing heavily, just waiting for the man to say something else so she could slap him again.

Brendan grabbed her hand suddenly.

Startled, Annalise looked around, but Brendan was already pulling her away. Then he said, "I need a new jacket."

Annalise stared. That was it? He just changed the topic because it was easier that way? Angrily, she pulled her hand out of his grasp.

Brendan shot around and stared at her.

"You're not even going to ask why I slapped that man?" she asked angrily.

Brendan made a face.

"Because he threatened me, that's why!" Annalise stormed.

Brendan shrugged. "Can we just go?"

Annalise gaped. "No we cannot just go!" she growled.

"Well, you can't," Brendan rubbed his wrists, glancing away from her, "you know, in here."

Annalise blinked. "What?"

Brendan glared at the floor, his face going red.

"What are you talking about?" Annalise shot.

"Make out or whatever," Brendan blurted, embarrassed.

"What?"

Brendan lifted his face from the floor. "You know, kiss and stuff."

Annalise shook her head. "I am not remotely interested in that man!" she told Brendan.

Brendan shrugged. "Okay. Cool," he said.

"Cool?" Annalise shot. She took Brendan's arm and the pair walked outside. "I just told you he threatened me, Brendan," she said.

"No, it's okay," Brendan assured her. "I get it. It was just a one-time thing."

"I do not understand what you are saying!" Annalise almost shouted.

"The kissing and stuff," Brendan said.

Annalise gaped. "I have never kissed that man before in my life, nor have I wanted to!" she told Brendan heatedly.

Brendan shrugged.

"No, don't shrug!" Annalise growled. "Tell me why you would say, or even think, something like that!"

Brendan didn't look at her. "I lost my other jacket on school camp," he said. "I mean, I have others, but I liked it, and mom got it for me, so I thought I'd get another one, you know, to replace it, and maybe you could pick it out for me."

"What stuff?" Annalise shot. If Brendan was going to ignore her, she was going to ignore him back!

Brendan rubbed his wrists again, as though it was a nervous tick he had suddenly developed, or maybe she just hadn't noticed it before. "Just stuff," he replied casually.

"Brendan, are you going to tell me what's going on?" Annalise demanded.

Brendan frowned at her. "I lost my jacket mom got me," he said.

Annalise stared at him.

Brendan sniffed. "It just felt funny," he said.

"What felt funny?" Annalise asked.

"I mean, I think I want a girlfriend." Brendan stared at the ground, considering this. "Or whatever." He looked up at her suddenly. "Not because I want to do that with her!" he shot. "But maybe just the kissing part."

Annalise shook her head. "Brendan, I don't know what you're saying?" she told him honestly, too confused and too tired to be angry at him any longer. It was as though she didn't know him at all, she thought.

Brendan shrugged. "Maybe you just forgot," he suggested.

"Forgot what?" Annalise asked.

Brendan looked at her. "You know, the kissing."

Annalise stared, trying not to panic. "Brendan, there was no kissing," she told him.

"It was ages ago," Brendan said.

Annalise shook her head. "Brendan, talk to me!" she said, taking his arms suddenly.

Brendan frowned. "I just want a new jacket," he said suddenly.

Annalise wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her.

"His name is Ben," Brendan said, his voice muffled. "Don't you remember?"

Annalise stood holding him for a long moment, as though she hadn't heard him, and then she felt suddenly sick. She remembered Ben. But – oh God! – how did Brendan know about Ben and her? She dropped her arms from the teenager and stepped away from him. "How do you know about that?" she breathed hoarsely.

Brendan frowned again, and then his eyes got big, and he put a hand over his mouth. "I'm so sorry," he gushed. "I didn't know. I thought you were his girlfriend." He blinked, tears forming in his eyes.

Annalise shook her head slowly.

"I didn't know he, you know, forced himself on you."

"Brendan!"

"I'm sorry!" Brendan said, turning away from her so that she was staring at his back.

Annalise reached out a hand and touched Brendan's arm. "Brendan, how do you know that?" she asked.

Brendan sniffed. "I felt it."

Annalise froze, and then she started breathing faster. Felt it! What did that mean? Oh God, what was wrong with her grandson?

"Brendan is an Empath," a voice said from behind her, and Brendan swung around and threw his arms around Annalise.

"STAY AWAY FROM US!" he shouted.

Ben looked at Annalise.

Annalise couldn't breathe. She didn't know what an Empath was. "Brendan," she said slowly. "It wasn't like you think."

Brendan tightened his hold on her, frightened.

Annalise looked away from Ben. "He wasn't my boyfriend," she said to her grandson, "but he didn't make me do anything."

Brendan sniffed.

Annalise blinked. She wanted to tell Ben to leave, but she had questions she needed to ask first.

"It is caused by a genetic anomaly," Ben said suddenly. "But there are different expressions. Brendan, I think, is an Empath. He feels things, sees things, as though they were his own."

Brendan rested his head on Annalise's back, but didn't say anything.

"What are you talking about?" Annalise shot.

"Catherine and I shared expressions. We were not Empaths."

Annalise shook her head angrily. "What are you saying?" she shouted.

Ben laughed.

"You shouldn't have done that," Brendan said.

Annalise tried to turn around to face him, but Brendan was holding her too tightly. "Done what? Brendan, done what? What did he do?" she asked.

"He's diabetic," Brendan said. "He's not supposed to have that much sugar."

Annalise stared at Ben, who had decided to sit down on the ground.

"You can't!" Brendan shouted. "Grandma, you have to stop him."

Annalise tried to turn again. "Can't what, Brendan?" she asked.

"He wants to go!" Brendan said. "So he can be with her."

Annalise stared. "With who, Brendan?"

Brendan sniffed. "Stop him, grandma! I don't want him to go! He's my family too!"

Annalise's chest hurt. "Who, Brendan?" she urged.

"His sister," Brendan said. "His twin sister."

Annalise spun around. She'd never known he'd had a twin sister.

Ben smiled.

Annalise got down on the ground and slapped him. "You've made my grandson cry!" she shouted at him, but he didn't hear her. Behind her, she could hear Brendan crying. She took a deep breath, and kissed Ben.

"He's not an Empath, grandma," Brendan reminded her in a whine.

Annalise ignored him. "What if I don't want you to go?" she said. She took his face in her hands. "Look at me, Benny! You can't go because I'm telling you not to! Isn't that the way it works? Those are the rules! I'm yours, and you're mine!" She kissed him again. She needed him to feel what she felt, what she'd always felt, but had denied. "DAMN IT, BENNY!" she shouted. "You better kiss me back, or I'm just gonna have to do something completely crazy in full view of my grandson and whoever else cares to watch!" Breathing heavily, she took her jacket off, and then her cardigan.

Brendan crawled over to stop her, but she pushed his hand away.

"MOM!"

"You can't stop me, Rachel!" Annalise told her daughter.

"Brendan?"

Annalise paused to calm herself. "We've gotta take him to a hospital, Rachel!" she told her daughter.

Rachel nodded and ran over to help her.

"I feel sick," Brendan moaned.

Annalise took deep breaths. "Think of that girl, Brendy," she told him. "Think of all the stuff you want to do with her, but probably shouldn't."

Rachel stared at her mother for a moment.

"What did you say?" a teenage girl who had been walking past in the parking lot shot, because Brendan had started to list all of the things that he wanted to do.

Brendan looked at her properly. "Nothing!" he cried.

The girl laughed and shook her head. "No, I heard what you said, you creep!"

"No, I didn't mean I wanted to do all of that to you!" Brendan said.

The girl gaped. "What do you mean 'all'?" She hollered. "How much of not 'all'?"

Brendan shook his head, confused now.

The girl stomped up to him and pushed him back. "Answer me!" she shouted.

Brendan blinked. "Mom? Grandma?" He turned on the spot. "I think they've gone," he said to himself. He turned back to the girl, and put his arms around her. "Don't go."

The girl shrieked. "What are you doing?" she screamed.

"They'll come back," Brendan said, breathing fast.

The girl made a face. Why was he breathing like that?

"Come," Brendan repeated, squeezing the girl tighter, but not tight enough to hurt her.

"Oh my God!" the girl shouted. "Get off me!" She pushed at Brendan, trying to get him to let go of her, and then she started kicking him.

Brendan lost his balance and fell forward, and fell right on top of her, because he was still holding her.

The girl huffed. "Oh! Help!"

Brendan breathed heavily. "Thanks," he said, because she had been in the way when he had fallen. He winced. "Sorry! I mean, sorry."

The girl stared at him, wide-eyed. "Get off me!"

Brendan nodded quickly, and got off her.

The girl glared, and got to her feet.

Behind her, a car honked loudly.

She leapt onto Brendan in fright.

Brendan stared at her.

Seeing his face, she quickly stepped apart from him, and spun around. "Pervert!" she screamed after the car, and showed the driver – a young man – her finger. A moment later, her eyes went wide. "Oh shit, I think that was my sister's boyfriend!"

Brendan frowned.

The girl grabbed his arm and yanked him after her.

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_Thanks for reading, and if you have a suggestion for the girl's name leave me a review and tell me – in case I decide to pick this up, as it was written in 2008 – or if you want me to continue or if you just want to share some of your thoughts. Any reviews in general would be great!_


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